YIV (Reuters) - Ukraine on Monday reported fierce fighting along its entire front line and "some success" in pushing back Moscow's troops in one part of the southeast where Ukrainian forces are trying to retake Russian-occupied territory.
Progress has been hampered by widespread Russian-laid minefields and strong fortifications, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said.
But the Ukrainian military had pushed forward around the village of Staromaiorske, around 60 miles southwest of Russian-held Donetsk, and was pressing on two fronts in the south, Maliar said.
Troops were fighting for control of the neighbouring settlement of Urozhaine, she said. A Moscow-installed official in an occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region said on Sunday that Kyiv was attempting to pierce Russian lines by gaining a foothold in both villages.
"Hostilities are taking place in the vicinity of Urozhaine and the fight is for this particular locality," Maliar said in a statement to an official military platform. "There is some success on the southern and southeast axes in the vicinity of Staromaiorske."
Ukrainian forces have made incremental gains since kicking off their long-awaited operation in June, but officials in Kyiv have acknowledged that progress has been slower than they would have liked and hampered by rigid Russian defences.
In Monday's statement, Maliar described the nature of that challenge.
"The Armed Forces are facing complete mining of the territory, cement fortifications of the key heights, (and) constant mortar and artillery shelling," she said. "Additionally the Russians are densely using aviation."
Maliar added that the Ukrainian military managed to retake nearly 2 square miles during the past week around the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut, where Russian and Ukrainian forces fought the bloodiest battle of the nearly 18-month war.
She also said Russian troops were continuing their assault around the eastern towns of Kupyansk and Lyman, where she said they were regrouping.
"The Russians have intensified these offensives after success of the Ukrainian army on Bakhmut axis," Maliar said.
Russia still controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, Luhansk region in the east and swathes of the regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The occupied territory includes most of Ukraine's coast line and parts of its industrial heartland, the Donbas.
Ukrainian guerrillas have burnt down a military base of the Russian occupiers in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Mayoral advisor Petro Andriushchenko announced the move by Ukraine on August 13 via Telegram.
He said Russian soldiers made efforts to extinguish the fire which killed numerous Russian troops.
He wrote: "In Mariupol, the resistance liquidated the occupiers' base by setting fire to it.
"At least ten of them (Russian occupiers) were taken to hospital. Three vehicles were completely burnt. A barracks is also gone."
The exact location of the military base has not been verified by Express.co.uk, but it could be a facility built in 2022 and first published by Maxar.
Thought to be used for weapons storage, aerial images of the facility show the logo for the Russian Army emblazoned on the rooftop.
Posting the images in December 2022, Maxar wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "In Mariupol, a Russian military compound has been recently built in the north-center of the city. Notice the Russian Army slogan on the top of the roof.
"The main city cemetery (Starokrymske) on the western side of Mariupol has had significant expansion of the number of graves."
Russia gained control of Mariupol in May 2022, with the siege beginning at the very start of the Kremlin's invasion. It remains under Russian control.
Since then, the Associated Press has found that remnants of Ukrainian life have been all but destroyed, with the city moved to Moscow's time zone and surviving schools teaching the Russian curriculum.
UKRInform reported this weekend that approximately 1,000 voluntary paramilitary Azov fighters, who fought against the invaders during the siege, remain in Russian captivity.
On August 12 the Azov Brigade posted on Telegram: "To date, the defenders of Mariupol, including about 700 Azov members and 300 fighters from other units of the 12th Special Purpose Brigade of the National Guard 'Azov', have been in Russian captivity for 14 months. We will return everyone."
So... Social Genocide, by forcing Russian Culture upon the defeated.
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
LadyTevar wrote: ↑2023-08-14 09:09am
So... Social Genocide, by forcing Russian Culture upon the defeated.
Historically, Russia has plenty of experience with forced Russification
and trying to forcefully Russify Ukraine is nothing new, at least the Soviets did it, I wouldn't be surprised if the Imperials did it too though I can't recall any examples currently.
I may be an idiot, but I'm a tolerated idiot
"I think you completely missed the point of sigs. They're supposed to be completely homegrown in the fertile hydroponics lab of your mind, dried in your closet, rolled, and smoked...
Oh wait, that's marijuana..."Einhander Sn0m4n
Tech billionaire worried about being seen ‘in Russia as enabling Ukrainian war effort’
By
Joe Barnes
21 August 2023 • 8:33pm
Elon Musk pondered pulling Starlink satellite internet from Ukraine because he feared being perceived as a warmonger in Russia, a former Pentagon official has said.
The 52 year-old South African-born billionaire expressed his concerns after Ukrainian forces reported network outages close to the front lines separating them from their Russian occupiers.
Colin Kahl, a US undersecretary of defence for policy until last month, was charged with brokering a deal to prevent Mr Musk from turning the system off altogether.
“If you turn this off, it doesn’t end the war,” Mr Kahl recalled telling the SpaceX chief, in an interview with The New Yorker.
“My inference was that he was getting nervous that Starlink’s involvement was increasingly seen in Russia as enabling the Ukrainian war effort, and was looking for a way to placate Russian concerns,” the former US official added.
Last year, Mr Musk was accused of publishing a Kremlin-friendly peace proposal, suggesting Ukraine should mirror sovereignty referendums organised by Russia in regions it occupied.
The outages were felt hardest in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The four Ukrainian oblasts, parts of which were occupied by Russian forces, were all claimed as part of Russia after referendums staged by Kremlin proxies.
Mr Musk told Pentagon officials during negotiations over Starlink that he had held personal talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin, the New Yorker reported.
Satellite terminals donated by Mr Musk’s SpaceX, as well as the US government and private donors, have become vital to Ukrainian military communications.
The “constellation” of satellites, operated by Mr Musk’s SpaceX firm, are used to coordinate drone and artillery strikes, stream live video from the battlefield and gather intelligence.
Mr Musk boasted that he could see the “entire war unfolding” through a map of Starlink activity. He told Mr Kahl that live information had made him hesitate over whether his satellite internet system was being used for peaceful means or to wage war.
“This was, like, three minutes before he said, ‘well, I had this great conversation with Putin’,” Mr Kahl said.
Offensive capabilities
The technology entrepreneur has long-held reservations over his system being used for offensive capabilities. It was recently reported he had forced Ukraine to drop a planned naval drone strike in the Black Sea by refusing access to the Starlink network around occupied Crimea.
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s top general, has said his military’s success was dependent on continued access to the system.
Aides to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky have previously attempted to ease Mr Musk’s concerns by telling him the system is “about defence, advancement, and survival”, a source told The Telegraph.
Mr Musk has also baulked at the cost of providing the system, which was estimated at nearly $400 million (£310 million) for a 12-month period, according to a report by CNN.
In June, the Pentagon announced it had reached a deal with SpaceX to maintain the system’s use in Ukraine, without disclosing the terms of the agreement.
The pact, which is believed to give Ukraine unabridged access to the system, is seen as a step away from Mr Musk having a significant role in the battlefield as Kyiv’s counter-offensive continues.
The Telegraph has approached representatives of Mr Musk and SpaceX for comment.
Tech billionaire worried about being seen ‘in Russia as enabling Ukrainian war effort’
((SNIP)).
Is anyone surprised ?
Surprised Musk is trying to weasel out of helping Ukraine, because he still wants Russian Money?
Nope, not at all.
I am NOT happy that the Pentagon is hiding what it took to get Musk to sit down and shut up.
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin could be among ten people killed in a private plane crash north of Moscow, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
A business jet en route from Moscow to St Petersburg crashed on Wednesday, killing all ten people on board, Russian emergency officials said.
Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list, but it wasn't immediately clear if he was on board.
Unconfirmed media reports said the jet belonged to Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company.
Russia’s civilian aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, also said Prigozhin was on the passenger list, however it was not immediately clear if he had boarded the flight.
TASS cited emergency officials as saying that the plane carried three pilots and seven passengers.
The authorities said they were investigating the crash, which occurred in the Tver region more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Moscow.
Prigozhin, whose private military force Wagner fought alongside Russia's regular army in Ukraine, mounted a short-lived armed mutiny against Russia's military leadership in late June.
The Kremlin said he would be exiled to Belarus, and his fighters would either retire, follow him there, or join the Russian military.
This week, Prigozhin posted his first recruitment video since the mutiny, saying that Wagner is conducting reconnaissance and search activities, and “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free.”
Right after they relocated a big chunk of the force to Africa, where they can't react quickly, he has an accident while most likely been called in to discussing finances...
Wondering if it is sabotage, blatantly shooting it down, or simply russian airframes failing due lack of parts.
There is a video of the crash. If it is real, a plane coming down in a flat corkscrew spin while smoking is a bit suspicious.
A minute's thought suggests that the very idea of this is stupid. A more detailed examination raises the possibility that it might be an answer to the question "how could the Germans win the war after the US gets involved?" - Captain Seafort, in a thread proposing a 1942 'D-Day' in Quiberon Bay
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin could be among ten people killed in a private plane crash north of Moscow, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Not only Prigozhin but neo nazi skinhead Dmitry Utkin (Wagner Group actual founder) was apparantly also on that flight, so it's likely most of the leadership of that terrorist organization was on that plane.
Since Putin is more of a maffia boss than a president, I wouldn't be surprised that he had it shot down as a revenge of the short lived mutiny back in June.
Still, great gift to Ukraine, who celebrate their independence day today
Claiming they shut of their transponder, and there was a drone attack at that time, so air defense misidentified a huge private jet for a drone...
Yeah, happens all the time...
Wagner have already commented that there were protocols for this exact thing happening, so they all moved out to execute those plans.
Towards Moscow.
Belarus is trying to shut off all means of communication where the Wagners are to keep them from organizing (As if they did not have other means than pones...), but tbh, there is nothing he can do, if they try to stop the Wagnerites, they will swipe all Belarussian troops away like the wet wipes they are.
Popcorn?
A minute's thought suggests that the very idea of this is stupid. A more detailed examination raises the possibility that it might be an answer to the question "how could the Germans win the war after the US gets involved?" - Captain Seafort, in a thread proposing a 1942 'D-Day' in Quiberon Bay
LaCroix wrote: ↑2023-08-24 04:48am
Wagner have already commented that there were protocols for this exact thing happening, so they all moved out to execute those plans.
Towards Moscow.
Damn that sounds like a big deal. Do you have a source you can link? Google isn't turning up anything.
LaCroix wrote: ↑2023-08-24 04:48am
Yeah, they shot it down.
Claiming they shut of their transponder, and there was a drone attack at that time, so air defense misidentified a huge private jet for a drone...
Yeah, happens all the time...
Wagner have already commented that there were protocols for this exact thing happening, so they all moved out to execute those plans.
Towards Moscow.
Belarus is trying to shut off all means of communication where the Wagners are to keep them from organizing (As if they did not have other means than pones...), but tbh, there is nothing he can do, if they try to stop the Wagnerites, they will swipe all Belarussian troops away like the wet wipes they are.
Popcorn?
Not hearing anything of this in the news in my area or via BBC. There is a lot of experts saying that plane was fully functional and should not have just "fallen out of the sky". BBC is also quoting sources that say witnesses heard "Two Explosions" before the plane went down. There's also talk that in the last roughly 2min of flight, the plane was rapidly climbing and diving, as one would if it was trying to avoid something.
No one is believing this was an "accident". Most are thinking missiles.
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
Saw a headline claiming the plane was held up at either the airport it took off from or a refuelling stop for some unspecified last-minute repairs, so it's possible they hid a bomb onboard instead.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
PLEASE START USING THE "RUSSIAN COUP" THREAD FOR FUTURE PRIGOZHIN/WAGNER NEWS
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
Please Use the WAGNER THREAD for all continued discussion on Wagner, Prigozhin's crash, What's gonna happen to Mali, etc.
Keep this thread for Ukrainian War Updates.
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
Ukraine general Syrskiy claims Russia is moving in newly built brigades/divisions to the Eastern front as reinforcements for a Russian offensive.
Seems likely that units earmarked to exploit a breakthrough will now be tied down and any results akin to Kharkiv currently delayed beyond this season.
Sadly. The Russian Frontline held. Unless Ukraine has the long range fires such as Tacair, missiles and etc to interdict those units.....
Let him land on any Lyran world to taste firsthand the wrath of peace loving people thwarted by the myopic greed of a few miserly old farts- Katrina Steiner
- Russia is sinking its own ferries to create a protective barrier in the Kerch Strait, Ukraine says.
- It says Russia is doing this to protect the Kerch Bridge from Ukrainian sea-drone attacks.
Russia is sinking its own ferries in the Kerch Strait in an attempt to create a barrier that will protect a vital bridge from sea-drone attacks, the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry (GUR) says.
In a Telegram post on Tuesday, the GUR said Russian troops were preparing to sink at least six ferries in the strait to safeguard the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russian-occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland.
Russia had already sunk the first vessel, the GUR said, and was preparing to sink its second. It's unclear how Russia is sinking the ships.
But Ukraine said that Russia eventually planned to "install boom barriers between the flooded ferries" to form a defensive line, according to a translation by the Kyiv Post.
Similar to anti-torpedo nets, boom defenses are physical barriers or nets that either encircle potential targets in the sea or cross the mouth of a harbor or a strait for protection against drones. They've been used since World War II.
But Stephen Wright, a drone-technology developer, told Insider the new tactic wouldn't prove useful for Russia, at least against drone attacks.
"I can see that these 'block ships' could be useful against a different kind of attack, perhaps a large ship being hijacked and rammed into the bridge, or even manned submarines," he said. "But against a weapon as small and agile as the sea drones that we have seen though? They won't stop that."
Russia has been trying to deploy all kinds of defenses amid a series of audacious Ukrainian sea-drone attacks in the area, which have previously damaged large warships.
The attacks have ramped up ever since Ukraine unveiled a new sea drone that packs hundreds of pounds of explosives and is faster than anything in the Black Sea, CNN reported.
It seems that Russia is really worried that Ukraine might be able to take out the bridge. So they are reducing their ability to transfer anything if the bridge does get destroyed.
I wonder if anyone has done work on drones that can both fly and navigate underwater...? Fly over the obstacle(s) (or hop over it like a flying fish) then onward to the target.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Broomstick wrote: ↑2023-08-26 08:36am
I wonder if anyone has done work on drones that can both fly and navigate underwater...? Fly over the obstacle(s) (or hop over it like a flying fish) then onward to the target.
The two main issues I can think of here are physics and energy. Flying through air is a different proposition than going through water, and the energy requirements are different because water is obviously more dense than air.
Now, that said, you could *probably* make a literal flying-boat drone, at least; put detachable wings and tail on a small boat, fly it over whatever obstacles exist, land it on water, break off the wings and tail, proceed on top of the water. Under the water would be a whole other kettle of fish.
Which isn't to say that nobody has thought of it; someone probably has... but if there are serious efforts in that direction, nobody is talking about it yet.
Sunk ships, booms, and torpedo nets are not going to work against drones.
A torpedo is dumb and will get stuck, but a drone is guided and has an operator. They could simply send a drone ahead and detonate it in the barrier to create agap for others to slip through.
A minute's thought suggests that the very idea of this is stupid. A more detailed examination raises the possibility that it might be an answer to the question "how could the Germans win the war after the US gets involved?" - Captain Seafort, in a thread proposing a 1942 'D-Day' in Quiberon Bay
Torpedoes have been guided too for quite a while you know.
'Next time I let Superman take charge, just hit me. Real hard.'
'You're a princess from a society of immortal warriors. I'm a rich kid with issues. Lots of issues.'
'No. No dating for the Batman. It might cut into your brooding time.'
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'Hey, we both have a Martian's phone number on our speed dial. I think I deserve the benefit of the doubt.'
'You know, for a guy with like 50 different kinds of vision, you sure are blind.'
